"Have you counted the cost? The frightful cost which you and yours must pay if you dare defend Virginia?"
Lee nodded his head sorrowfully.
"On my knees, I've tried to reckon it." He looked longingly over the wide lawn that rolled in green splendor toward the river.
"I know that if I cast my lot with Virginia, this home, handed down to us from Washington, will be lost, and its fields trampled under the feet of hostile armies. That my wife and children may wander homeless, dependent on the charity or courtesy of friends. The thought of it tears my heart!"
His voice sank to a whisper. And then he lifted his head firmly.
"But I must not allow this to swerve me an inch from my duty—"
The sound of horses' hoofs again echoed on the roadway, as Ben entered from the dining room to announce breakfast.
Lee listened.
"See who that is, Ben."
"Yassah."